Amy

Female

35

Student

Nov, 2008

I first experienced working with weights in high school and absolutely loved it but it wasn't cool for girls to lift weights so I never did anything after those few weeks in gym class. I have struggled with my weight my entire life. I can think of two instances where I had lost a lot of weight - but both times I gained it back. The first time was in high school - I started running and basically starving myself and lost quite a bit of weight - but gained it back in the winter when I couldn't run outside anymore due to the cold. Then, in university, a friend and I went on a "liquid diet" consisting of, again, pretty much starving myself and consuming a LOT of alcohol and going out dancing ... and of course, once I started to eat again, I gained the weight back and then some. Throughout the years, I was always so frustrated that it seemed I was eating the same amount of food as other people, but had such a hard time being at a normal weight. Granted, I wasn't very active, and had no concept of good nutrition, but it still seemed so unfair how hard I had to work to just maintain my overweight physique - I could so easily gain weight it was depressing. I also had a lot of "girl problems" that didn't make much sense, and doctor after doctor continued to tell me that my body was just regulating itself ... In my mid-20's I swelled to 235lbs - the heaviest I'd ever been, and I was severely depressed and hated to even look in the mirror. I became very withdrawn and closed myself off from the world. I did my own research and figured out I most likely had PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome). Through my own research, I started learning about nutrition, PCOS, and insulin resistance and began to really pay attention to what kinds of foods made me feel groggy, and what foods made me feel energized. I found that when I ate certain foods, I actually WANTED to be active and I began exercising, riding my bike to work, and joined the gym. At the gym, I ran into a high school friend who (lucky for me) was a personal trainer. We worked out HARD together, and I lost 65lbs. For the first time in my life, I felt GOOD about my body!!! Unfortunately, I let myself get back into bad habits after some personal stuff took priority over my own health ... and I've gained back every single pound I lost. So I'm back at square one. I've lost my workout partner (she's expecting a baby) so I'm doing it alone ... and hoping this forum will be a source of encouragement. So far, I've lost 20lbs just by eating right again ... and now I'm trying to get together a workout plan that I can safely do on my own at the gym. I browse the women's weekly transformations and I would LOVE to be one of them!! I would love to show everyone that even with PCOS you can transform your body and be healthy and happy ... so I'll be documenting everything here as time goes by.

I love the feeling of being so energized after a good workout. I love feeling that I have power over the shape of my body. I love seeing muscles and feeling strong. I love that good pain feeling the day after a really great workout.

Right now, I'm motivating myself by looking at all the great transformations I've seen on this site, and by looking at photos of myself from 2 years ago when I was feeling good about myself. I did it once, I know I can do it again ... but this time, I know I can't just do it for a while and go back to old habits.

Losing 50 lbs!!! WOOHOO!! Feeling strong, energetic and positive again. Can't wait for summer!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ True commitment is continuing to do what you said you would, long after the emotion you declared it in is gone. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Do or do not. There is no try. ~ Yoda ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~